Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I'd like to be.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the complexity of self-perception and the dual nature of relationships with others.
E. M. Forster's quote explores the multifaceted nature of identity and personal relationships. It suggests that we have various perspectives on ourselves, as well as contradictory feelings about others. The types of people he identifies—those we view ourselves as, those who challenge or irritate us, and those we aspire to emulate—are critical to understanding how we navigate our lives and relationships. This introspective view encourages self-awareness and the acknowledgment of external influences in shaping our identity.
Themes
IdentitySelf-PerceptionRelationshipsAspirationSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal growth, one might use this quote to illustrate the complexities of self-identity.
More from E. M. Forster
All quotes →A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.
E. M. ForsterRead
One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.
E. M. ForsterRead
Oxford is Oxford: not a mere receptacle for youth, like Cambridge. Perhaps it wants its inmates to love it rather than to love one another.
E. M. ForsterRead
The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And we cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely tolerance.
E. M. ForsterRead
One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.
E. M. ForsterRead
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